What you aren't told is that this covers about 7 classes a year. (In other words, good luck with that 4-year plan...it's more like an 8 year plan.)

My husband and I decided a few days ago that he would just go to college part time this fall.  The main reason for this is that while our school is less than 30 miles from our house, it takes a good 1-2 hours each way. My husband is also working nights, so it would just be really difficult to live off of 5 hours of sleep a day.

So we headed down to the base education office to get his tuition assistance forms filled out, and was told that he had reached his TA limit for the year.

What's funny to me isn't that the military only covers part-time college while you're enlisted (you can use the G.I. bill AFTER you get out), but that more people don't take classes while in the military. I told Sarge that if he stays in the full 20 years and just takes classes the whole time, he'll be retiring at 39 with like four degrees.

Seriously, how ridiculously amazingly awesome would that be?

Let's go beyond the surface and examine the issues that will make a difference in eternity.  John 15:5  Jesus said:  I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  (NIV) No matter what good we do, or how good we do it, if isn't done in Jesus's name it will not count for anything in eternity.   Romans 3:10  There is no one righteous, not even one.  (NIV)  If you are not ignoring your conscience, the truth of the Word of God will hit your heart.

We think of our lives as being very important; but here is what God says in James 4:14  What is your life? you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  (NIV)  John 17:3  Now this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ[Yeshua HaMashiach] whom you have sent.  (NIV)
Our lives pass so quickly, do you want to make the most foolish gamble and put  off thinking about eternity until it is too late?

We all know people who are liars, but who does the Bible say a liar is?  1John2:22
Who is the liar?  It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ [Mashiach]
Who is the only truth?  we will find this answer in the following verse in the Bible.
John 14:6  Jesus said:  I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the father except through me.

One day we will have to give an account for our lives.  Hebrews 4:13-14  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  (NIV)

So many do not understand the mercy and love the Father has for us.  The fact that you are still breathing is a sign of his love for you.  Your very breath is in His control.  If He wasn't merciful and compassionate, you would have died long ago.  2nd Peter3:9
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance[teshuvah] (NIV)

You may not understand God's ways, but that is why he is God, and you are not.  Isaiah55:8-9  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord[HASHEM].   His grace has appeared to you, but you just don't know it.  Titus 2:11-14  For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say no to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ [Yeshua HaMashiach] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (NIV)

We are called to be worshippers of God, but most of us do not live our lives this way.
We focus our time and energy on things that do not please the Father.  The Bible says in Romans 1:25  They exchanged the truth of God for a  lie, and worshiped and served created things , rather than the Creator---who is forever praised.  Amen.  (NIV)

We have a choice to receive Jesus [Yeshua] in his mercy now, or experience him in his wrath in the judgement to come.   Revelation 6:15-17  Then the kings of the earth. the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.  They called to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"  (NIV)  There will be no excuses in that day.  Romans 1:18-20  The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.  (NIV)

The biggest x-ray machine for our heart is what comes out of our mouths.  Matthew 15:18-19  But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.'  For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.  These are what make a man unclean.  (NIV)  Matthew 12:36  Jesus[Yeshua] said:  But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned.  (NIV) 

If you know you are not right with God, confess your sins with Godly sorrow and ask Jesus [Yeshua] to come into your heart and fill you with His Holy Spirit.  Attend a Church that believes that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.  Get baptized.  Read your Bible daily and follow the teachings of Jesus  Walk in His Love to all you come in contact with.

                                           Shalom in Jesus [Yeshua]

2.  They attend class drunk. Yep. Not sober.

3. No THOMASIN Cheaters. Haha! But I'm a TNHSian!! I guess I just have to get used to it. haha XD

4. First week away from home. Okay . Scratch that. First TWO weeks away from home is very sad and really depressing. Like you just want to curl in bed or at a corner and cry your heart out.

5. Its good to let your feelings out once in a while. Cry it out girl. You'll feel loads better later.

6. No parents. =(

7. College professors do care. Well, at least some of them. A little.

8. UST is abundant of HOT, good-looking guys.

9. YOU REALLY SHOULD LEARN TIME MANAGEMENT.

10. They (the Profs.) won't care if you're late or absent from class.

11. Coffee. Iced.

12. Always craving gor comfort foods when things get out of your hands.

13. Usually, guys you're crushing on, is taken.

14. Hot, good-looking guys in USTe are taken (so far).

15. No more cleaners after school.

16. You crave the company of old friends.

17. You can't afford to be reckless.

18. You're on your own.

19.  ALWAYS HAVE STRONG FAITH IN GOD.

20. STUDY YOUR HARDEST!!

People have relentlessly poking at me asking when my next blog post is going to be. Well here it is, but the truth is I'm not exactly sure what to write about. I've never been a large fan of the Emily Gould-esque "overshare" where undoubtedly all of my deep emotional turmoils can be laid out for all of the world to see -- but I work for the consumerist now! My singular emotion is complete contempt for corporate America, which day by day seems to want to fuck me in the ass with an even larger dick.

Just a couple of weeks ago I had a bit of an emotional crisis which surrounded my love life, I specifically go and try to date older men because I expect some greater level of maturity, and by proxy, some deeper level of commitment. You know, dating someone who doesn't believe that a "night out" is essentially sitting on the couch, watching HBO and making out -- which is potentially followed by four and a half minutes of clothes fumbling and 45 seconds of haphazard and inexperienced humping, resulting in an early release which hardly leaves one side of the party satisfied . I wanted to be dating someone who isn't so strapped for cash that maybe they can actually pay for your movie ticket once in awhile. Dating someone who doesn't spend their weekends with an IV of vodka and surrounded in that ephemeral cloud of marijuana smoke. I'm not saying that I have these ridiculous, impossible to reach high-standards -- just that maybe you were a little more intelligent that Forrest Gump and can keep your dick in your pants. So, I reached a peak level of frustration when I realized that I'd somehow turned my partner into the same collegiate party-boy (though he certainly doesn't fumble about like an inexperienced second year in the sack!). Therefore, I was quite upset, and nearly terminated the relationship, but we fortunately were able to talk everything out, and I believe that things have turned out fantastically well for us -- we've made some great strides.

I was a little sensitive about writing my blog for a little while because recently in a friend's blog I received this commentary.

"an excerpt, on ‘the Condescending Gay’, one of several spot-on office stereotypes:

‘So you know that you’re not exactly the ‘fashionista’ of the office space, however, this guy looks you up and down as if whatever you’re wearing is something out of an MC Hammer video, and he is going to have an epileptic seizure because of it. He likes to have ‘girl talk’ with the other vogue puppets about the cute guy at the gym who he really swears is in no way straight…’

I love it! so delightfully sharp, and certainly my preferred brand of humor, at least to read (though I can only dream of having such a way with words and social observation). but where has this writing gone? I worry that not enough time in the office and too much time with me cooking dinners and wondering about domestic life has tragically drained all of the biting social commentary out of her...[emphasis added]"

So I've struggled lately to find an adequate topic to write about -- I want to carry forth this so called biting humor and rapier-like wit, but I struggle to find the less than serious issues to discuss. I struggle to find something serious enough to write about in the first place -- and then to get it all written down. It's bad enough that I don't even proof read my own damn work, mostly because the quasi-perfectionist in me would tear it about like a ravenous wolf and destroy it over and over until there would be nothing left from the original writing, none of the original thought, and most likely none of the original content.

Today I tried to bring up with my mother the topic of Barack Obama, as last night we discussed my Aunt's life of constant pain that she is experiencing because of TMJ ( a lockjaw-esque problem which I also suffer from) and the fact that her insurance company is now refusing to pay for MRI's and other necessary procedures that she required to live a normal lifestyle. I asked my uncle in the car if they were planning to vote for McCain and he said that they "have no other option". It really kills me to hear them say this, especially considering that their eldest child requires the same jaw surgery that my Aunt had and they complain that their insurance company refuses to cover it. I was talking to my Mom about how Obama has a solid healthcare plan that she wasn't even aware of. But then the only thing that she could continue to argue was the fact that it was socialist. I pointed out to her that there are plenty of capitalist countries (UK, Germany, Belgium and Japan) who have successful national healthcare systems. We're not entirely like France or Canada even, but it's ridiculous to close your mind to it. I specifically cited an excellent PBS documentary on the issue, but she said that we have a system of checks and balances so that change doesn't happen like that -- and that none of those countries were at war. My argument was that we NEED change, that this change didn't happen overnight in those countries, but some event occurred where that needed to happen. I think that it's entirely reasonable to expect healthcare for myself and my children. I believe I've already been why I've decided to be on Barack Obamas side.

Alright, this is enough writing for now. Mom really isn't the big bad wolf, I understand why her and dad want to vote for McCain (since they're in that 38% bracket, they're going to get taxed more). But, to each his own. Besides, she performed surgery on my Tigger -- his arm is better now.

Until next time.

A few weeks ago I would have adamantly denied my interest in pursuing a doctorate.  I learned while acquiring my masters that I love to conduct research but I'm not so fond of writing about it until I puke.  I did think about the idea long and hard.  I spoke with several people who have doctorates or are pursuing them.  I weighed the advantages and disadvantages: not much advantage in the education field unless you want to feel important or be a superintendant or professor.  I looked at lifetime salary increases versus the cost of 96 more credit hours.  (I don't have enough life left to pay for another 96 credit hours!)  And just to give writing up the research a side in the argument, I bought a book called Write Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day.   In the end, I made peace with the decision that a doctorate just wasn't for me.

Then I woke up Monday.  It's almost August and I'm not registered for any classes.  Stores are selling school supplies and I have no need to look at the latest and greatest note taking ink pens.  I'm going to have to start paying back student loans!  I'm not a student anymore!  UUUUGGGGGG!  In fact, according to my college licensing board, I am in a position to renew my teaching license until 2027 without taking another class!  I could retire by then!

While many people can't wait to get out of school, I enjoyed college.  (Well, there was the one professor that screamed at us all the time, never knew what she had assigned, and answered every question with, "You people think you're smarter than me.   I have a doctorate."  Could have lived without her!  But then the adorable (insert drool) physics professor who wore surfer shorts and flipflops in winter made up for her.)  The thought of not working towards an achievement, of not having a defined goal, is more terrifying than the thought of having to write that stupid dissertation! 

So I opened the phone book and started the search.  With a 4.0 and maxed scores on my exams, I didn't have a concern about who would accept me so I started with the university closest to me and spread out from there.  Indiana University: have to spend two summers on the Bloomington campus.  Can't do but the most likely option.  Purdue University: have to drive 4 hours one night a week to take a class.  Can't do.  Ball State: many classes online but not all and would have to take a leave of absence from work.  Can't do.  Notre Dame: I have a department chair willing to sponsor me but I'd have to leave my job.  Can't do. 

It seems that you can either focus all your attention on going to school or on doing the job you went to school for.  You can't have both.  I wasn't ready to start this when I was younger and now that I'm older I have too many other committments to devote all my time to it.  No wonder all the doctors look like Doogy Howzer.  You have to jump in there before your life starts!  Having started my carreer in my late 30's, I want to enjoy it.  So my new plan is to teach until I retire while keeping my radar out for a program that I can complete while working.  If nothing turns up, I take advantage of reduced tuition for senior citizens and get my picture in the paper for being the oldest doctoral candidate in my class!

www.braindebris.wordpress.com

vs.

Tonight I'm going to see the State College Spikes (Pittsburgh Pirates) vs. the Jamestown Jammers (Florida Marlins).  I will be getting a lot of pictures to share with you tomorrow.  Lets hope I can get a few autographs and a team set.  Today will be a busy day, card show in the morning, and a baseball game tonight.  I hope I can get my homework done :-)

I hear this all the time. I'm a "channel expert" on quarterlife.com, which is a site pretty much dedicated to the issue. It always suprises me that there is so much stress from students thinking they have to know what they want to do with their life even BEFORE going to college, or that thnk college will solve the question. I think college is great way to explore your options, but that doesn't stop just becuase you get your degree. No doubt, quite a few people have their whole life planned out, and are chasing a clear career goal with unwavering dedication. For most people, however, that isn't the case.

In other posts I discourage you from obsessing about finding the perfect school. I feel the same way about career paths. Unlike searching for a dream school, I do think dream career paths are out there, and if you have one, that's great. If you don't, however, you're far from alone - actually the studies on "millenials" would say your in the vast majority. So relax - having options can be exciting, instead of stressful. Be seeing you.

^ Click for full ^

Just came back from APIIT ICCG 2008 after a long hiatus. Many things have changed.. even the exam hall.

But the banners and ribbon remains. Damn..

I'm a slightly disappointed that the goodie bags are smaller, and most disappointed that there's nothing there to buy this year. After last year's 'winter' most sponsors know better to set up stalls here to con us of our money by selling their wares with higher markup than Low Yat.

There are some 10 PS3's with Fifa running for pros that are 'too good' for the death match upstairs to warm their hands with, sharing casual jokes with other pros and their daddy and mummy.

I feel bad for the parents that are here for a look-see before enrolling their kids into an award winning institution to get a shock that all we do is play games together with the lecturers.

^ Wonder where did they get those plasmas from.

Codemaster Studios (Malaysia) were here today to give a talk on their new games, basically saying that they're proud to unleash their new money maker GRiD on our primitive minds all for RM59.90 (serious!).

I have no clue what GRiD stands for but it's a racing game so go figure. It is still some points off from being realistic (compared with my drive home on the MRR2) but it's close enough. One dead giveaway you are not going to die in that crash is their overzealous use of HDR means everything including the driver's pinkie finger glows amber with an unreal aura. Oblivion would be ashamed.

Special for this weekend, students from my prestigious MSC certified Award Winning University College is nothing more than professional lame ass drivers on a dirt track. I am still wondering where the hell they get the plasmas from!

The college is printing money I presume cause instead of corporate plain maroon carpets we now get them imported from Iraq! Persian carpets! OMG!!!

Call of Duty 4 is one of the games on play. What a shame that our humble benevolent students fare better as professional mercenaries with skills catering to getting head shots than to getting their heads washed. Damn.. some people don't bathe before they come over.. must be training their double-tap quick kill the whole night, carpal tunnel syndrome be damned.

Somehow I find the above picture better than the first. My accidental flash fired while taking a screenshot but it is eerily better looking this way. Photoshop yay!

I also got Aaron on film forcefully taking a picture of his hostage. See how he had tied his victim to a chair..

;)

Being absent from college for such a long time, I didn't notice the consumerism had taken over the place. Imagine an ad in college basically giving the finger to lecturers saying their lectures are so boring that students would rather eat in front of their face than to learn what they had to offer..

Then face reality. . .

I took some shots of the ribbons for fun, as usual, they are my pathetic atempt to get some creative photography off the runway but there still seems to be something lacking about it, maybe I need to clone those 'extras' on the opposite side away and correct the colours a bit to give it more omph.

^ Those 2 drops on the cloth? They're bird droppings. Enjoy your meal.

I didn't take much picture of the competition in play cause they're all the same, bunch of sweaty arm chair generals showing their stupidity by shouting at the avatar their right hand is controlling with their equally laughable wireless mouse.

The rest of the event is quite boring once the main competition starts. Sorry but I didn't see any pretty h-sapiens of the opposite gender so no pictures for you.

Pendahuluan

Good Corporate Governance (GCG) merupakan konsep yang enak dan mudah diwacanakan, tapi masih berat dilaksanakan. Terbukti, sejak Komite Nasional Kebijakan GCG (kini berubah menjadi Komite Nasional Kebijakan Governance/KNKG) mengeluarkan pedoman GCG pada 2001, jumlah institusi publik dan BUMN yang serius menerapkan konsep ini masih memprihatinkan (swa, 2007). Mas Achmad Daniri, -Ketua KNKG-, menyebutkan dalam Swa (2007) bahwa hal itulah yang membuat gemes pengurus KNKG. Padahal, target yang dicanangkan KNKG ingin menempatkan Indonesia pada kuartil teratas dalam pemeringkatan internasional good governance pada 2009. Selain itu, menurut penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Fithri (2007) jumlah peserta CGPI Awards-pun masih sangat sedikit. Hal ini mengindikasikan masih rendahnya kesadaran publik akan arti pentingnya GCG.

Permasalahan

Merujuk pada latar belakang tersebut maka:

1. Apakah GCG?

2. Mengapa konsep GCG sulit membudaya?

3. Bagaimana upaya penerapan GCG?

Teori Keagenan

Teori Keagenan menunjukkan hubungan antara pihak yang bekerja sama tapi mempunyai posisi yang berbeda. Manajemen, sebagai pihak yang diberi amanah untuk menjalankan dana dari pemilik atau prinsipal, harus mempertanggungjawabkan apa yang telah diamanahkan kepadanya. Dilain pihak, prinsipal sebagai pemberi amanah akan memberikan insentif pada manajemen berupa berbagai macam fasilitas, baik finansial maupun non finansial. Permasalahan timbul ketika kedua belah pihak mempunyai persepsi dan sikap yang berbeda dalam hal pemberian informasi yang akan digunakan oleh prinsipal untuk memberikan insentif pada agen. Hal lain yang membuat permasalahan adalah persepsi kedua belah pihak dalam menanggung resiko (Eisenhard, 1989 dalam Khomsiyah, 2003). Agen yang mempunyai informasi tentang operasi dan kinerja perusahaan secara riil dan menyeluruh, tidak akan memberikan seluruh informasi atas kepemilikannya tetapi asses pada informasi internal perusahaan terbatas akan meminta manajemen memberikan informasi selengkapnya. Keinginan prinsipal tersebut pada umumnya sangat sulit dipenuhi. Hal ini disebabkan adanya beberapa faktor seperti: biaya penyajian informasi, keinginan manajemen menghindari resiko untuk terlihat kelemahannya, waktu yang digunakan untuk menyajikan informasi, dan sebagainya. Produk dari ketiadaan harmonisasi antara agen dan prinsipal ini adalah timbulnya ketidakseimbangan informasi (information asymmetry).

Corporate Governance merupakan suatu cara untuk menjamin bahwa manajemen bertindak yang terbaik untuk kepentingan stakeholders. Pelaksanaan GCG menuntut adanya perlindungan yang kuat terhadap hak-hak pemegang saham, terutama pemegang saham minoritas. Prinsip-prinsip atau pedoman pelaksanaan GCG menunjukkan adanya perlindungan tersebut, tidak hanya kepada pemegang saham, tetapi meliputi seluruh pihak yang terlibat dalam perusahaan termasuk masyarakat.

Pengungkapan merupakan salah satu alat yang penting untuk mengatasi masalah keagenan antara manajemen dan pemilik, karena dipandang sebagai upaya untuk mengurangi asimetri informasi. Perusahaan memberikan pengungkapan melalui laporan tahunan yang telah diatur oleh Bapepam dan lembaga profesi maupun melalui pengungkapan sukarela sebagai tambahan pengungkapan minimum yang telah ditetapkan. Penerapan GCG dalam praktiknya menekankan perlunya transparasi dan akuntanbilitas dari manajemen perusahaan

Penerapan GCG

Mendorong perusahaan menerapkan GCG bukanlah hal yang mudah. Menurut Jos Luhukay (Ketua Subkomite Korporasi) dalam Daniri (2007), bahwa salah satu penyebabnya adalah belum adanya wasit yang tegas untuk program ini. Regulator tidak bisa dijadikan satu sebagai wasit. Sehingga dalam rencana mendatang KNKG akan memprioritaskan pelaksanaan GCG di perusahaan yang menghimpun atau menggunakan dana publik dalam jumlah besar, seperti kelompok perbankan, dana pensiun, perusahaan publik dan BUMN. Pelaksanaan GCG di masing-masing kelompok tersebut tentu akan sangat bergantung pada peran regulator masing-masing. Contoh peran regulator perbankan adalah Bank Indonesia dan peran regulator pasar modal ada Bapepam. Jos Lukuhay dalam Daniri (2007) juga mengungkapkan bahwa sekarang sudah saatnya para regulator tersebut di-rating, bukan hanya perusahaannya saja.

Sedangkan menurut Suratman (2000), menjelaskan bahwa kurangnya sosialisasi GCG menyebabkan ketidaktahuan perusahaan akan asas manfaat GCG, sehingga penerapan GCG masih rendah. Hal ini juga didukung oleh penelitian Marwati (2007) yang menggambarkan bahwa peserta CGPI Awards masih sangat sedikit. Fenomena ini memberikan gambaran bahwa publik masih acuh dengan manfaat penerapam GCG.

Manfaat mikro GCG bagi perusahaan ujung-ujungnya memang efisiensi dan produktivitas. Sebab produktivitas dan efisiensi usaha adalah jawaban menghadapi kompetesi global di tengah situasi yang turbulance. Sedangkan secara makro GCG bermanfaat bagi masyarakat secara keseluruhan. Misalnya, seluruh perusahaan di Indonesia menerapkan GCG maka secara otomatis membantu perbaikan ekonomi negara dan masyarakat.

Sebagai contoh konkrit yaitu, penerapan GCG dalam praktiknya menekankan perlunya transparasi dan akuntanbilitas dari manajemen perusahaan. Dengan demikian, perusahaan akan membayar pajak sesuai dengan apa yang didapat. Hal ini, menurut Wahjudi dalam Khomsiyah (2000), menghindari inefisiensi dan opportunity cost yang tidak perlu.

Sementara itu, guna menjamin efektifitas GCG diperlukan suatu cara. Hal itu harus dilakukan secara kolektif oleh pekerja-pekerja di dalam tingkatan yang berbeda. Upaya melakukan GCG dapat dilakukan jika masing-masing pihak dalam perusahaan menyadari perannya untuk mewujudkan GCG.

Merujuk pada Satyo (2000), berikut setidaknya bentuk-bentuk peran yang dapat diambil oleh para manajer, akuntan manajemen, dan auditor internal dalam mendukung terwujudnya GCG di perusahaan. Para manajer perusahaan dapat berperan secara efektif terhadap GCG dengan melakukan tindakan-tindakan antara lain:

1. Mengidentifikasi secara layak, mengevaluasi, dan mengelola resiko dan peluang;

2. Menindaklanjuti kebijakan perusahaan dan menjelaskan tujuan perusahaan secara lengkap;

3. Menaati standar-standar etika; dan

4. Memandang dewan direksi perusahaan sebagai “ahli” dan kewenangan legalnya diakui.

Akuntan Manajemen dapat berperan dalam:

1. Memberikan system informasi atas penilaian kinerja masa lalu dan aktivitas masa depan yang disetujui dan direncanakan;

2. Merancang dan menerapkan internal control system yang berperan sebagai dewan penjamin;

3. Menjamin bahwa pendelegasian kewenangan ditaati; dan

4. Mengawasi dan mengevaluasi biaya-biaya serta manfaat-manfaat dari aktivitas utama.

Auditor Internal dapat berperan dalam:

1. Membantu dewan dalam menilai resiko utama dan memberi nasehat pada pihak manajemen;

2. Mengevaluasi internal control system dan bertanggung jawab kepada komite audit;

3. Menelaah peraturan GCG minimal setahun sekali.

Pambudi S. Teguh, (2006) merangkum bahwa ada lima langkah menuju GCG, yaitu:

1. Pemilik dan manajemen, siapkan komitmen Anda. GCG adalah proses yang terus-menerus. Tanpa komitmen, hasilnya tidak akan maksimal dan hanya buang-buang waktu serta energi.

2. Tunjuk orang yang kapabel untuk memimpin tim khusus. Mereka bisa melakukan benchmarking atau mengundang konsultan.

3. Susunlah organ-organ GCG mengacu ke pedoman yang dikeluarkan Komnas GCG, serta disesuaikan dengan kebutuhan perusahaan. Prinsipnya, terjadi keseimbangan kewenangan dan mekanisme check and balance

4. Buatlah corporate governance manual sebagai induk dari semua buku manual perusahaan yang mengatur etika dan praktik hubungan organ-organ perusahaan.

5. Sosialisasi dan tone from the top. Manajemen harus menunjukkan perilaku yang sesuai dengan aturan yang ada.

Good Corporate Governance (GCG) merupakan konsep yang enak dan mudah diwacanakan, akan tetapi membutuhkan kerjasama antara semua pihak demi mendapatkan manfaat yang optimal. Jangan dulu bicara adanya hambatan di luar ketika perusahaan ingin mempraktikkan GCG -- terutama ketika iklim bisnis secara makro belum kondusif seperti masih merajalelanya tradisi kickback atau biaya siluman -- yang membuat niat diurungkan. Yang terpenting, adalah mempraktekkan GCG sedini mungkin karena banyak manfaat yang dipetik.

Daftar Pustaka

Daniri, Achmad, 2007. Gulirkan Terus GCG. www.swa.co.id, 2007.

Khomsiyah, 2003. Hubungan Corporate Governance dan Pengungkapan Informasi: Pengujian Secara Simultan. Simposium Nasional Akuntansi VI, Surabaya, 16-17 Oktober 2003, hal. 200-212.

Marwati, Fithri Setya (2007). Pengaruh Pengumuman Corporate Governance Perception Index (CGPI) Terhadap Reaksi Pasar. Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jogja, 2007. P

ambudi, S. Teguh, 2006. Lima Langkah Menuju GCG. www.swa.co.id. 2006. S

atyo, 2000. Agar CG Efektif. Media Akuntansi, NO. 7/ TH. I/Maret 2000, hal. 8.

Suratman, Adji, 2000. Peranan Akuntan pada GCG. Media Akuntansi, NO. 7/ TH. I/Maret 2000, hal. 12.

Anyways, today became a very eventful day. I'm actually quite fortunate to have the opportunity to watch Dat Phan (although he wasn't at his greatest that day, and it was quite frustrating too) and The Dark Knight on it's first day. The Dark Knight, unlike the previous Batman movies, had a deeper meaning and message than just defeating bad guys, but the scale of greed, betrayal, and corruption that one can uphold. I was truly impressed by Heath Ledger's role. Despite his death, I'm proud that through his role, he left a deep, undeniably true, and memorable message that people will remember through this movie. Ironically, the theme of the movie was mostly delivered by Joker, which I found surprising and a bit twisted. In all, it was a great movie that was worth the $10.50 to spend.

So my siblings and I planned to watch The Dark Knight today. Well, not really planned, but my brother brought it up since he's been really excited about it and he was extremely bored. Later in the afternoon/evening, my sister and I drove to the AMC Theatres to buy the tickets ahead of time. We ended up buying the 9:00PM showing since the intended show, 9:50PM was showing at the smaller theater. After we successfully bought the tickets, which was around 6:30PM, we realized that people were already lining up for the 7:45PM show. Because of the line, we were skeptical if we should start making a line despite the fact that the show wouldn't start for another two and a half hours. My sister and I decided that people wouldn't be that crazy (although the AMC worker did say that people were lining up for the midnight show yesterday since 6PM), so we decided to get some boba at Tea Station. My sister then was complaining how bored we would be doing nothing for the next two hours, since her nifty iPhone wouldn't be there entertaining us with Tris (a pretty Tetris game). So, we resorted in going to Barnes and Noble looking for magazines and books. In the end, I ended up buying The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I was considering buying Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, but I figured that I may not like it since I'm not much of a Pride and Prejudice fan (sorry, girls). While my sister and I were waiting in line, I read the first few pages and I'm hoping that the plot will be as promising as The Great Gatsby though most of his stories are relative to each other.

Quite frankly, I'm pretty amused of myself buying a book for pleasure, a thick book. Well, at least it makes me productive for the remaining month or so that I have left here in southern California. Oh, speaking of books, the chemistry book that I ordered for school came in! Oh the nerdiness shall begin. I'm going to have so much fun crunching chemistry principles in my head that I remembered say, two years ago?

Anyways, for the lost and found part, I found my retainers that I was looking for since I came back from Taiwan. Because of my vacation and the mouth infection, I haven't worn my retainers for a little more than a month, which was why I felt very uncomfortable that my jaws felt that it shifted when I smile. Anyways, I really need to get a new pair because the clear plastic type of retainers proved to be very flimsy and easily broken. I'm considering getting the metal kinds since I'm only going to wear it at night anyways.

As for my sleeping habits, not much has changed since no matter how late or early I sleep, I always wake up roughly around the afternoon. I guess it was a bit better this time because I had to wake up a bit earlier (by thirty minutes) to go with my brothers to make their schedules. Good luck for them and their strenuous junior year!

Walking into Walnut High School has really made me nostalgic, and I guess I wasn't used to the fact that I won't be seeing this campus at a daily basis anymore. It's weird not having to fill out so much paper work, to look for the contact information of our doctor, or to take a picture for the ID card. Today was probably going to be the last day that I would see the whole campus. I wonder if they changed the locks yet.

Goodbye high school!

My quote is

"I try to apply colors like words shape poems, like notes shape music." -Joan Miro

*Done with watercolor, gouache, and acrylic on canvas. (:

Cheri-2008

Anyways looking forward to meet evry1 here and eager to start this semester on a good note.(i.e. go to the first class early....I ve been late for  the first class for the past two semesters and they have been a disaster w.r.t results) A lot of work is to be done this sem.....AOL courses,MGL,etc......

Bye,cya

jai Gurudev!

I got my little study guide and was feeling pretty confident until, like, two days before I was supposed to sit for the test when I read a review of the guide I was using. People were saying that they had been totally unprepared for the test, that it was the hardest CLEP they'd taken, that they'd guessed on about 75% of the test. They all recommended relying on a Biology text to study more heavily than the CLEP study guide. Well yeah, okay, I don't have a text and I only had two days in which to go through said text! So I ended up going to the library the day before and checking out a textbook and cramming about a semesters-worth of information into eight hours of study time. No exaggeration. I think it was the most intense studying I have done, well, at least recently. 'Cause I mean, I haven't been in school in about 4 years. Yeah, that's another thing, I am out of practice.

So yeah, the test was pretty tough. I was pretty shaky on the Genetics and Botany sections going into it and what did I get a whole boatload of questions on? Perzactly. I thought it was going to be a lot easier for me. That's what I get for being cocky and not studying the crap out of a Bio text for the last month or so.

Whatever, I passed. And, if the score actually showed up on my transcript as a grade, it would have been an "A."

I'm happy to get that out of the way. The only damper on things is the fact that it was just announced on the news tonight that my college is having their biggest tuition hike in history; tuition is going up 13.2% I think that means I will be paying about $375/credit hour. Seriously? For a state university?  This is he first time I've ever dealt with financial aid and a large university; I previously went to a community college and paid for it myself. I figured the increase wouldn't take effect until next year because, I mean, we've all gotten our financial aid awards already. But no, I believe it takes effect immediately.

So...I suppose it's a good thing I'm testing out of some classes, hey? :)

While on break from an internship in the Bahamas, Gordon finds what tourists really look for from the Ministry of Tourism. [Black Tie Lounge]

Some examples showing that you can be badass even if you are a math major. [studenthacks.org]

And now for your music moment, Thelnie goes all YouTubeish on Coldplay and does alone what it took four guys... kind of. [Thelnie Cracks]

When I was in college (yeah, you know you like to drop that line every now and then too), I did a semester-long project where my professors compiled for us a list of several contemporary individuals and groups that they felt were innovators and leaders in their respective fields. The project was to take the artists, create a fake event or happening or concert or whatever, as long as it included a poster, a ticket, and a direct mailer/postcard. It was extremely open-ended which forced us to do a MASSIVE amount of research to find something that was unique, and true to that artist. We dug deep, son... so deep... deep as the abyss...

The list included such beasts as:

• film director Michel Gondry, 
• designer/art director Tibor Kalman, 
• dance troupe Project Bandaloop (youtube them...bananas), 
• fashion designers Victor + Rolf, 
• architect Zaha Hadid, 
• film director Pedro Almodovar, 
• designer/art director Stephan Sagmeister, 
• writer Paul Auster, 
• fashion designer Walter Von Beirendonck, 
• designer/thinker Bruce Mau, 
• and a few more... 

I can't believe I remember them all. Well maybe because I had to hear and see their names every single day for 4 months... and at the end of the semester, everyone did a 10-15 minute presentation or whatever on their artist or group... Eventually I had gone back and done my own research in my spare time on most of them. It was really a good look on my Professors' parts because they definitely schooled us to some new shit that most of us weren't hip to at the time. If you have a couple of days, look these artists up, they're really amazing. Sorry, but I was too lazy to make links, plus...no one made links for me back then!!! Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeett.......

Back to my point...

So the artist who's number I drew out of a hat was the legendary David Byrne.... Well, at the time, he wasn't the LDB to me, he was just that guy that sang in the Talking Heads. I actually had no idea why the hell he was on the list, minus the band... I had a whole semester to find out.

Long story short...

Started my research as most would...online. Found out about his music-Talking Heads (that's all I listened to for like 3 months straight on my ipod), Brian Eno collabos, solo joints,  'world music' ventures, etc... I bought some cds, downloaded some hot traxxx, found out he started the label Luaka Bop Records, etc... Learned about his fine art projects and gallery showings... He did all of this while being photographer-slash-writer-slash-video director-slash-everything else on the side... Dude had his plate full-and was hungry at that. 

Anyway so that was that... the project lead me to a new favorite band, a bunch of books on David Byrne, a new way of appreciating an artist's body of work, a not-so-awesome-anymore project, and something to blog about 4 years later...

But really, I'm still a HUGE fan (NPI/NH) of Mr. David Byrne... big enough to revisit him here. 

Originally, the whole point of this post was just to post a couple of images and talk about his book The New Sins, but it's late. I'll just hit y'all off with some links...

LiNk bLaSt!!!

1. www.davidbyrne.com - The New Sins, suggested reading 1 & 2

2. www.davidbyrne.com/radio/index.php  <- Doesn't matter what kind of music you're into... he covers almost all of it except for hip-hop, but that would be corny anyway if he did. His current playlist called "Avant-Pop" includes James Pants, Lykke Li, Bat for Lashes, SantoGold, Chromeo, CocoRosie, MGMT, etc...

3. www.luakabop.com <-- Os Mutantes, Nouvelle Vague, etc...

4. MORE LINKS!! <-- My easy way out of thinkin' n' linkin'....

I'll stop here because at this point I feel that I'm sharing too much.

Gotta keep some for myself!

Peace!

BV

The second presentation was, for the lack of a better word, meh. Since I didn't finished my slides as early as I should have, they weren't adapted to the page template the rest of the "group" was using. I use the word group loosely, as it wasn't even supposed to be a group. As I finished my slides late, and they didn't follow the design convention (which wasn't so good), some people in the "group" made me feel ... dimished, because of it. Good thing I don't give much of a damn about team work. My presentation was shorter than the rest, and the teacher seemed pleased with my proposed design for an ad making use of the Ebbinghaus illusion.

Now, the week is over. I can finally breathe easy, knowing that I've made my presentations and only have to deliver some work that has less impact on my grade. I'll do all of it, of course, but I will also give myself some time to rest. Rest that is well deserved, as I only slept about five hours last night.

Rest, sleep, vacation. Those are words I hold dear to me, not just because of their individual meanings, but because they provide comfort when you hear/type/read/say them.

And now, I must sleep, to get some rest, while looking forward to my vacation.